William C. Oates

William Calvin Oates (1 December 1835-9 September 1910) was Governor of Alabama (D) from 1 December 1894 to 1 December 1896, succeeding Thomas G. Jones and preceding Joseph F. Johnston, having previously served as a member of the US House of Representatives from Alabama's 3rd district from 4 March 1881 to 5 November 1894, succeeding William J. Samford and preceding George Paul Harrison, Jr.. He was also a Colonel in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War and a Brigadier-General in the US Army during the Spanish-American War.

Biography
William Calvin Oates was born in Pike County, Alabama in 1835, and he became a lawyer in Abbeville after years of drifting. He joined the Confederate States Army in 1861, becoming the commander of the 15th Alabama Infantry Regiment in 1863 during the American Civil War. At the Battle of Gettysburg, Oates led his regiment in several charges up Little Round Top, and his brother John was killed during the battle. He later fought at the Battle of Chickamauga, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, and Cold Harbor, and he lost his right arm at Petersburg in 1865. He returned to his Henry County, Alabama practice after the war's end, and he was a delegate to the 1868 Democratic National Convention. From 1870 to 1872, he served in the State House, and he then served in the US Congress from 1881 to 1894. From 1894 to 1896, he served as Governor of Alabama. In 1898, President William McKinley commissioned Oates a Brigadier-General in the US Army during the Spanish-American War. He died in Montgomery, Alabama in 1910 at the age of 74.